- Chelsea Building Society
-
Yorkshire Building Society trading as Chelsea Building Society 
Type Building Society (Mutual) Industry Banking and Financial Services Founded 1875 Headquarters Cheltenham, England, UK Key people Ian Cornish, Chief Executive Products Savings, Mortgages, Insurance Net income assets = £13.1 billion GBP (December 2007), 
17.5% on 2006Website www.thechelsea.co.uk Chelsea Building Society was the fourth largest Building Society in the United Kingdom with total assets in excess of £13 billion at 31 December 2007 [1]. It is a member of the Building Societies Association. Operating mainly in South East England with its network of 35 branches, its head office is based in Cheltenham employing over a 800 staff. The society was established in 1875 as the London & Camberwell Building Society. Three years later, in 1878, the Borough of Chelsea Permanent Building Society was formed. Over the years both societies merged with smaller societies and on 31 December 1966 the two societies merged to create a new society with assets of £30 million. The new society was called the Chelsea and South London Building Society until April 1971 when the name was changed to Chelsea Building Society.
Following the merger in 1966, the administrative headquarters were based in Streatham, with the registered office at 110 Kings Road, Chelsea. In 1973, having outgrown the accommodation at Streatham, the administrative headquarters moved to Thirlestaine Hall in Cheltenham. On 1 July 1988 Chelsea completed a merger with the City of London Building Society, with the name Chelsea remaining unaffected [2].
Chelsea Building Society ; inside the Charlton Kings Site
In 2006 Chelsea opened a purpose built customer contact centre close the Head Office at the old Charlton Kings railway station as a commitment to keep its call centres UK based, which won environmental awards for its use of geothermal heating, green building and "green" credentials [3].
In February 2007 they acquired Britannia Capital Securities (BCS), a medium sized independent firm of Secured Loan and Mortgage brokers operating in the UK, in order to further diversify their lending [4].
The Society remained operational during the 2007 United Kingdom floods, despite having no running water for several weeks.
On 7 June 2008 it was announced by both Catholic Building Society and Chelsea Building Society that they were to merge [5].
On 10 October 2008, Chelsea revealed £55 million of its liquid assets (1.55%) were invested in the troubled Icelandic banks. Whilst the amount involved is a small percentage of assets, it represents almost one year's operating profit for Chelsea [6].
On 31 December 2008 the merger between Chelsea Building Society and Catholic Building Society completed.
In August 2009 it was revealed the Chelsea had written off £41m in "potentially fraudulent loans" made in 2006-2008.[7] Although it had made a underlying operational profit of £18m.[8][9]
A new temporary Chief Executive, Stuart Bernau, was appointed to fill the space left by former Chief Executive Richard Hornbrook in August 2009, and also to conduct a systematic review of Chelsea's future. The findings were announced to the press the week beginning 30 November 2009 [10].
Merger with Yorkshire
On 1 December 2009, Chelsea announced being in advanced merger talks with Yorkshire Building Society.[11] The following day they announced a formal merger.[12] At a Special General Meeting in Bradford on 23 January 2010, Yorkshire Building Society members approved the merger proposal.[13]
The merger completed on 1 April 2010. Shortly afterward, Yorkshire announced the closure of Chelsea's operational presence at the original Cheltenham Head Office in Thirlestaine Road by 2011, relocating the remaining staff to the second, smaller site at the old Charlton Kings railway station.
External links
References
- ^ Building Societies Association - Asset List (PDF)
- ^ Chelsea; Our History
- ^ Chelsea key facts and figures
- ^ Chelsea Press Release February 9th, 2007
- ^ Chelsea Press Release June 7th, 2008
- ^ Chelsea Press Release October 10th, 2008
- ^ "£41M Fraud Hits Building Society". BBC News. 21 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8213504.stm. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ Chelsea Press Release , August 2009
- ^ "£41m fraud hits building society". BBC News. 21 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8213504.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
- ^ Daily Mail Article , 28th November 2009
- ^ "The Chelsea and Yorkshire building societies may merge". BBC News. 2009-12-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8388309.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ "Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies agree merger". BBC News. 2009-12-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8390203.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ "Chelsea Building Society merger approved". BBC News. 23 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8476498.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
Independent Building Societies in the United KingdomBath Investment · Beverley · Buckinghamshire · Cambridge · Century · Chorley & District · City of Derry · Coventry · Cumberland · Darlington · Dudley · Earl Shilton · Ecology · Furness · Hanley Economic · Harpenden · Hinckley and Rugby · Holmesdale · Ipswich · Leeds · Leek United · Loughborough · Manchester · Mansfield · Market Harborough · Marsden · Melton Mowbray · Monmouthshire · National Counties · Nationwide · Newbury · Newcastle · Nottingham · Penrith · Principality · Progressive · Saffron · Scottish · Shepshed · Skipton · Stafford Railway · Swansea · Teachers · Tipton & Coseley · Vernon · West Bromwich · YorkshireCategories:- Organizations established in 1875
- 1875 establishments in England
- Companies based in Gloucestershire
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